Extract from ECHR: INFORMATION NOTE No. 85

on the case-law of the Court

April 2006

The summaries are prepared by the Registry and are not binding on the Court.

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FREEDOM TO RECEIVE INFORMATION

Refusal of the Central Election Committee to provide an NGO with the documents allegedly needed to perform its observer functions at the parliamentary elections: communicated.

GERAGUYN KHORHURD PATGAMAVORAKAN AKUMB - Armenia  (ECHR N^o 11721/04)

Decision 11.04.2006  [Section III]

The applicant is an NGO which acted as an election observer at the parliamentary elections in May 2003.

In the days following the elections, the applicant requested, by registered mail, that the Central Election Committee (CEC) provide it with the copies of all the decisions taken and records of all the meetings held by the CEC after 12 March 2003, as well as the other documents allegedly needed to perform its observer functions.

Its requests remaining unanswered, the applicant contested the CEC’s inactivity before the courts. The first-instance court rejected its complaint for lack of proof, without notifying the applicant about the hearing. The applicant appealed against this decision to the Civil Court of Appeal and to the Court of Cassation, submitting the copies of the relevant post office receipts with postmarks. His appeals were dismissed on the ground that the above post office receipts could not serve as a proof because there was no postmark on them.

Communicated under Article 10.

Complaints under Article 6 of the Convention and article 3 of Protocol No.1: communicated.

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Source:

• http://www.echr.coe.int/Eng/InformationNotes/INFONOTENo85.htm and http://www.right2info.org/cases#european-court-of-human

Copy: Parliamentary Assembly Council of Europe, International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights, OSCE, ECHR (Keim v. Germany Appl. No. 41126/05), FOIAdvocates, CoE Human Rights Commissioner

Development:

• 10. July 2006: Sdruženi Jihočeské Matky v. Czech Republic, Application no. 19101/03, Decision of  ECHR (Admissibility). Access to information.

• 19. September 2006: Marcel Claude REYES et al. v. Chile Case No. 12.108: Inter-American Court of Human Rights Confirms Right of Access to Government Information. (See also: http://www.access-info.org/)
• 16. October 2006: Justice Initiative Intervenes in Strasbourg Freedom of Information Case: Application no. 11721/04. GERAGUYN KHORHURD PATGAMAVORAKAN AKUMB v. ARMENIA.

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